Steel and Shadow
by LordofDrow
Summary: When Delta saves Eleanor as she tries to escape from the last bomb, they find themselves in a new world. A world where the battle against the King of Shadows rages on. Read and Review. ON HIATUS DUE TO LACK OF ALTERNATIVE PLOT...
1. Chapter 1

NWN 2 Bioshock 2 crossover (working title)

I suppose, that despite the evidence to the contrary, I always thought of Eleanor as a Little Sister. I could only watch in admiration as she eviscerated a flaming splicer… my little girl. I turned and fired a spear into the head of another splicer, pinning him to the wall with a satisfying "Thunk." With it gone, I turned my attention to the ballast lines above me. I needed to destroy them in order for both of us to escape. A burst of icicles from Fontaine Futuristics: Winter Blast 3, made short work of the glass and water began to pour into the room. I was interrupted by a Brute Splicer ramming into me with a pair of vicious hammer blows. I quick froze him into a block of ice. Switching to Telekinesis 3, I picked up the block of once-human remains and threw it at the remaining ballast tank. That did the trick, the glass broke and the room began to flood.

I had to clomp up the stairs to the elevator. Eleanor simply swam up and over the railing. I couldn't tell if she was smiling, but she might have been. I mashed the button on the elevator as I reached it and the box began to ascend. It seemed to take forever, but that was probably just adrenaline. The elevator reached the top of the shaft and both Eleanor and I began to run down the hallway to the escape boat. She rounded the corner an instant before I did, but we both saw it at the same time…

"Father, the Bomb!" she exclaimed. There in front of the door to the boat, was a pile of explosives that would make the most hardened of nitro splicers giddy with glee. The ticking sound that emanated from the pile slowed and stopped. Purple light began to coalesce around Eleanor, butI was slightly faster. Old habits die hard and I pulled her back to move her behind me just as the bombs go off. There was a purple flash and a wave of heat, then blackness.


	2. The real Story Begins

I am falling; I see blue sky above, then land and water below. I hear Eleanor shrieking and see her next to me. I wonder why a lake is below me and getting closer and then it hits me with a splash. Everything goes dark as the water folds around me.

I open my eyes, Eleanor is crouching over me, and her helmet light is green, meaning that there is no threat around. She checks my suit and I ache all over. I can tell that I am only partway out of the water, because my legs feel oddly pressured. I can feel the water doing me good, but can it keep me alive long enough to get somewhere important. The Fountain of Youth tonic coursing through my veins keeping me going makes me glad that I researched those acrobatic bastards in Dionysus Park. I let out a sigh of relief, safe at last. Eleanor, seemingly happy with my recovery stood up and looked around, then she looked back at me.

"Father, in the distance I can see smoke, it appears to only be a few miles away. Can you make it that far?" she asked, concern tingeing her voice, even though it was muffled by my helmet. I twist to look at her and nod once, well I try, and I at least manage to move my helmet up and down. Turning over, I begin the lengthy process of getting up. She helps me and it speeds up the process. Now that I can see the landscape, it appears to be a pretty series of rolling hills with a road visible off to the right. Off in the distance, there is what appears to be a tower, possibly a church steeple. We get moving, our progress slowed by the fact that my legs are not working as well as they used to. It is an effort just to keep walking. I know Eleanor has never seen the surface. I have, but those memories are not very fresh and where I came from never looked like this. Trees seemed to line the road, as though the road had been there first. Arcadia had nothing on this. I felt happy the she was at least able to see the surface with me before my heart and other organs gave out. While we walked, I checked what we had. I had my drill attached to my arm and was able to find the spear-gun before we had moved out. I had a full load of regular spears as well as trap spears, but I only had 5 rocket spears left. The drill would run on pretty much anything that combusted decently. Like alcohol if it was a high enough proof. Eleanor had her syringe-weapon strapped to her arm, so that was a comfort. We were armed at least, so there would be no trouble in an emergency. As we rounded a bend in the road, there was also a break in the trees to our left. There was the ocean, blue clear water as far as you could see. It was impossible to go to the water because of the high cliffs that made getting down impossible. "Isn't it beautiful Father?" Eleanor sighed, "I always wanted to see the surface, and now I'm here. It's like I imagined." She kept going as she talked, but I knew that it was only for me. The town seemed farther than we had both expected and the day was warm and sunny. Neither of us complained. All of my body ached, despite the tonics that alleviated the pain. Parts that I didn't even know could ache ached. Just as we got within sight of the town, I felt my legs give out, and the ground rushed up to meet my helmet. My heartbeat began to slow as I heard Eleanor screaming. Was it at me, or for help? I couldn't tell, nothing sounded clear anymore. All I regretted was that the time we spent together wasn't more fruitful. Black oblivion surged up around me and my eyes began to dim.


	3. What is this place?

Death shouldn't be this way. I should know. When Lamb had me pull the trigger, there was a white light and then nothing. Here, it was strange. The world was all grey and translucent. I could see my body lying on the ground with Eleanor sitting there and cradling my helmet, like I was standing above it all. There was a crowd of people coming; all of them dressed in… something that looked straight out of the middle ages. Eleanor talked to them, and there was a lively discussion. I tried to listen, but there was no sound. The villagers seemed scared of Eleanor and my body. I'm not sure what happened, but some sort of agreement must have been reached because a youngish man came out of the crowd. He was the oddest person that I had seen, his skin was black as pitch and he had white hair and red eyes. His features were sharp and exotic and he had pointed ears. He was different from the crowd in that he wore a suit of armor; the insignia on his chest was of a woman of the same type or species dancing and holding a sword above her head. Following him was a short hairy midget, and two women. One of them had pointed ears like the young man, but white skin and she wore some sort of robe. The other had horns and a tail… I must be getting old or delusional, this couldn't be happening. Eleanor and the young man spoke for a moment and then he pulled out a scroll. He started to speak aloud while reading it and then he pointed at my body. A golden light surrounded my body and I was drawn back towards it. Then there was a voice, "Come back to your body. Your daughter wants you back. We can help you." It was obviously the voice of the man… the words came as he spoke. The glow intensified and I moved in and touched my body. There was a flash and then light poured into the world. Then darkness fell again.

…

…


	4. Close Encounters of the Strange kind

It was apparently some time before I awoke because when I did, Eleanor jumped on me and hugged me. "Oh Father, you're awake, he said that it would be awhile." I could feel her crying, her body wracked by sobs. Since the surgery, I couldn't speak. All that I could do was pat her hair and hug her to me. We may have been able to communicate through the bond between us, but that was unlikely to help me much. I started to move her away and get up, but she wouldn't move. "Wait here Father, I'll go get him, he wanted to check up on you. He healed you somehow. Just wait here." She started off out the door, leaving me alone with my new surroundings. I was in a small room in a wooden building. Through the window I could see the sea as well as a couple other buildings. From below I could hear the sound of some sort of celebrating, shouting and some singing. It was probably a bar of some sort. Was this some sort of hotel? The room contained only a bed and a small footlocker at the base of it. I heard footsteps in the passage outside and some muffled conversation. I could hear Eleanor and another person. It sounded like the voice that had recalled me to life. The small door creaked open and in came the man, his white hair framing his smiling face. He smiled and spoke in a confident voice:

"Well… Delta, it seems like you've pulled through. Your," he paused "daughter, Eleanor hasn't left your side all afternoon. She said that you could help us with a little problem that we've been having." While he spoke, he was poking the sides of my suit and moving my arms. "Anyway, you seem to be in fine shape, that scroll wasn't cheap," he paused and looked at the drill on my arm "but if that does what I think it does, it was worth it." I motioned to my head and made a querying sound. "Your other weapon is on the other side of the bed, on the same side that your auger is on. I stood up and looked at my savior. He barely reached 5' 2'', compared to my nearly 6' 3'' he seemed tiny, but I knew that size wasn't everything when compared to power. ADAM equalized everything and everyone. I fished the spear-gun from the floor and checked it for damage. It was in perfect condition as I had left it. Then I looked at the man again, and let my helmet light go green. He looked me up and down, whistled and said: "Big guy aren't you, come on down and we'll get you two introduced and then you can help me with a problem." He left the room and Eleanor followed. She seemed to be following very closely, I would have to watch them. I slowly clomped out of the room, down a short hallway lined with doors, and down a rickety flight of stairs. Dust fell from beams overhead as they were shaken by my tremendous strides. I was right; on the ground floor was a large bar-room. The man and Eleanor were seated at a corner table next to the hairy midget and the two women. The short one was speaking and gesturing like he was telling a story. I heard part of it as I approached.

"And after that, I followed Jorun, seeing as how he attracts his share of brawls." He saw me and did a double take. He wasn't the only one though; several bar patrons had left hurriedly as I came down the stairs. "Gods above, you were right, he is huge. You could almost mistake him for a golem of some sort." His gravelly voice was slightly annoying, but not too annoying. It reminded one of a Scotsman. The woman with the horns and the red tail looked and said:

"Wow, you never need to warn people off do you, he looks like an ogre." Her voice was high pitched and sounded slightly larcenous. She kept eyeing people suspiciously. The other woman kept quiet. Both she and the young man, Jorun was his name, smelled of ADAM. There was something strange about him even beyond the current situation. They didn't look like splicers and their demeanors didn't suggest any mental instability. They were safe enough to be around. There were no chairs big enough for me, so I stood next to the table and motioned to Jorun to speak. He cleared his throat and began to talk:

"We are all here finally, so let's get down to business. The town is besieged by lizard-folk. No ships can leave the harbor and we need to get out on a certain ship. The town council has charged us with fixing the problem, stating that all of the outlying farms have been abandoned except one. We need to talk to that one person to find out any information. The woman's name is Shandra Jerro, and we should get out to her farm at once." He paused and looked around. "Let's go right now." He stood up and started to walk out of the bar. The others at our table got up and followed, so Eleanor and I did as well. We walked out through the small town, which sat alongside the sea-cliffs. As we passed the small stone wall that delineated the town from the rest of the wilderness, I saw the pointy eared woman sigh with quiet relief. The walk to Shandra's house took quite a while, but we got there just before nightfall. Just as we rounded the bend in the path, we saw the farmhouse and the barn. There was a light in one of the small windows. I admit the past two days were a bit of a shock. We appeared to be in a form of medieval Europe, but with several major differences. Either they had discovered ADAM and the world had regressed, or this was "somewhere else." I mean, a piece of paper bringing me back to life and the funny people. What had happened when Eleanor teleported, where were we? These would have to wait, because a door had opened in the farmhouse and a woman walked out. She was of medium height with blonde hair and average features. She seemed remarkably calm for having a half-ton Big Daddy, a Big Sister, a woman with horns, a hairy midget, and a pair of strange pointy eared splicers on her lawn at night. She had a torch, so she could see, she stopped and did a double-take, and then she said:

"I don't know who you are or why you are here, but you can go back to the Underdark, there's nothing here for you." This obviously hit a nerve with Jorun, he blushed and certain facial muscles set.

"Well, we're here from the town council and we were wondering exactly if you had seen any-" Jorun started to say, but he was cut off.

"If you're from the town council, then you can tell that… man that I'm not going to leave. I've worked hard for this farm and I'm going to defend it." She crossed her arms emphatically. "Now leave me alone."

"If you please ma'am, we were wondering if you had seen anything unusual around here of late?" Jorun was being remarkably calm.

"Well, there's you for a start" She smirked and said, "other than that, there have been odd lights up at the old castle. How about you check those ou-" Jorun was looking past her at the side of the barn and the fields beyond.

"Um, a pair of lizard-men just ran through your fields." A fiery glow could be seen from the barn and a column of smoke was rising.

"What, no, my harvest" Shandra moaned. The fire was easily put out, but the barn and the crops were ruined. It took some time to console Shandra and get her to stop crying. Eventually we left and made camp outside of town. The pointy eared woman, Elanee, was surprisingly good at finding good places to sleep and she was a great cook as well. Eventually everyone went to sleep, though Eleanor and Jorun talked for a long time. I was tired, in a sense, but there was so much to see that I could not sleep. The clearing we were in was near the cliffs, so I sat down and watched the sea. The moon was different from home, there were trailing bodies, like a trail of tears from a large eye. They were somehow fascinating. I don't know how long I was there, but there came a sound behind me. Somebody laid a hand on my shoulder, it was Jorun.

"I don't know your name, nor where you came from, but you can join me if you wish. Your daughter is surprisingly chatty." He sat down beside me and looked me square in the faceplate. "I know that you are not from this place, or even this plane. You stare at the moon and the Tears of Selune in wonder. Any person who grew up on this world knows about them." He sighed and shook his head. "What secrets do you hold, what sort of a world do you live in where people like you must be created? Eleanor has said little, but when she referred to you as father, that intrigued me. Can you tell me anything?" With one hand, I removed the drill and stowed it with the spear-gun. Then I pointed to the sea, then to myself, and then back at camp. He looked, and sighed again. "Look, we've got a long day ahead, get some sleep before tomorrow." Then he got up and walked away. I didn't count the time, but at some point I fell asleep. My first night out of the hell that was Rapture, it was a relief.

…

"Wake up you big lug, time's a wastin'." It was the horned girl, and she was poking me in the side. I groaned and opened my eyes. The sun was coming through the trees and I was still on the cliff, where I had sat last night. It was rather a bad image, I should have been up and awake earlier. What use is a protector who falls asleep and doesn't defend his people. I hauled myself up and joined the rest in breaking camp. It was easier than setting up and we were off on the road fairly quickly. The castle was on a promontory that gave it a commanding view over the surrounds. The trail up to the castle was in poor repair while the castle was clearly a ruin. Some walls had collapsed and there were rooms open to the air. The weather started good, but as we approached the walls, sounds of battle reached us. Through the gates, I could see a group of beings, there were some that moved slowly but determinedly, the others were bipedal lizards. There were four of them, surrounded by the others. Jorun ordered a halt and we watched. The lizards were trying to fight their way towards the gate, hacking with crude swords. The others looked human and were trying to club the lizards with skeletal arms, their bodies were grey and naked but for a loincloth. As we watched, one of the lizards went down under a mass of clubbing gray bodies. The noise was a mixture of hisses and growls. Who made what noise couldn't be ascertained. I switched to incinerate 3 and began to take aim on the mob. Jorun put a warning hand on my arm. I lowered my arm.

Eleanor whispered "What are they?" Jorun's face was grim.

"Zombies, they are the animated corpses of dead beings. Terrible things must have happened here for them to rise like this. Much as I hate to say it, we should help the lizards."

"You're mad," Khelgar said. "They're both evil, let's take them all out" He looked ready to charge in there before Jorun said:

"Look, we need to keep them alive, if we can get them to take us to their lair, then it would be much easier to do our job." As he talked, two of the lizards went down, clubbed to death by the… the zombies. Jorun pulled a heavy metal mace from his pack and rushed forwards into the line of gray bodies. The zombies on the outside turned to meet him.

"Ugh, he always does this, I don't know why he's still alive…" The horned girl grumbled as she followed him. The man was charismatic, but I felt something else, like a destiny. Enough of that, it's killing time. I lumbered forwards, firing flames from my hand, but they didn't react properly. Splicers usually screamed and flailed before running to water. These… they just kept coming relentlessly burning. I went with another method, I grabbed one and slammed him into another. The pair went down easily, but they started to get up again. Several zombies latched onto my suit and tried to drag me down. That might have worked on a human, but not on a Big Daddy. Try as I might, I couldn't shake them off though. They sure are tenacious. Suddenly, there came a blinding light and the zombies reeled in fear. I turned to look at the glow and realized that it was Jorun, glowing like a torch with some sort of inner fire. Only one lizard-man was still standing, and the rest of the zombies were systematically cut down as they fled. All in all, there were only a few cuts and scratches to patch up. The dwarf was the most wounded when he tried to head-butt a zombie and it gashed his side with sharp nails. Then, as one, we all looked at the Lizard…


End file.
